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Why Monarch Can’t Use Certain Toho Monsters, Revealed by Executive [Exclusive]
The Monsterverse is set to begin its next chapter in the anticipated second season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, but when it arrives, it won’t just be Kong and Godzilla making their returns. That’s because the show will feature a brand new Titan created just for the series, but what about some of the other classic Toho monsters? ComicBook had the chance to speak with Executive Producer Tory Tunnell about using other Titans and if any had been off limits for the show, and that’s when Tunnell revealed exactly why some of the Titans haven’t been utilized on screen this time around.
Tunnell was asked if there were any Toho monsters who they were told were off limits to avoid overlap with the films. “I mean, yes, but not in a way that it’s a, you know, it feels like it is, gatekeeping. I think it’s something that we’re also, we want the world to feel as big as possible,” Tunnell said. “And so for us to we don’t want to be overlapping with what the features are doing, because that just narrows the world.”
“So we’re always trying to look for, you know, what story hasn’t been told, and how can we tell that in a really effective way? And how can we take pieces that we know are coming or that came before us and have it all feel of a piece and all feel cohesive in a way that also surprises and doesn’t exhaust,” Tunnell said.
Monarch Is Introducing A Deadly New Titan, And It Might Even Frighten Godzilla
While the return of Godzilla and Kong was already a major deal for a television series, the show’s not even stopping there, as Monarch season 2 will also be introducing a deadly new Titan that will even give Godzilla and Kong a run for their money.
Fans have received glimpses of the new threat (named Titan X) in the trailers, but have yet to see its full form or even get a name for the creature. The large beast seems to stay underneath the water whenever possible, and has a number of large tentacles that look to be a challenge even for Godzilla and Kong. Some have compared aspects of the creature to Biollante, but no one on the team has said that name has any ties to their new creature.
When asked if they always knew they wanted to create a new Titan for this particular role, Tunnell revealed that was the case from the inception of the new season. Not only does it bring a fresh creature to the Monsterverse festivities, but it also allows the series to explore an entirely new area and history in the process.
“I love that question. We, had some bad auditions from Mothra. No, I think that we felt like it would be really fun to do something new and to give audiences something that they weren’t expecting and to have that Titan navigating, you know, places of the planet that we haven’t seen before,” Tunnell said. “And allowing it to have its own sort of personality in its own way, and also having it be something that, you know, we always think about, these monsters are always a great metaphor, as in any great sci-fi or any great horror for what it means to be human.”
“And these monsters have always represented this existential crisis that we have, and, you know, the things that are out of our control,” Tunnell said. “And so for this season, this monster is very bespoke to the drama that we’ve conceived, and it felt like it had to be inevitable that it was this Titan and no other.”
While the new creature is clearly a focus, that doesn’t mean we won’t get brief appearances or even hints of other classic Toho creatures and characters. Characters like Jet Jaguar and Hedorah won’t show up at some point. The Monsterverse has already given fans stars like the Skar King, so we’ll just have to wait and see if Titan X can deliver as well.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 will air starting February 27th on Apple TV.
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